Thermal and acoustical insulating shields, to which the presently described embodiments are an improvement, have long been known in the art. Such shields are used in a wide variety of applications, among which are shielding in space crafts, automobiles, home appliances, electronic components, industrial engines, boiler plants and the like, and are commonly referred to as heat shields, acoustical panels, thermal and acoustical barriers, insulating shield, and the like. As used herein, such terms are considered interchangeable. Some of such shields have proportionally smaller thermal insulating value and proportionally higher acoustical insulating value, and vice versa. There are, of course, shields that lie therebetween. Such shields may be used, for example, between an object to be protected, i.e. shielded, for example, the floor pan of an automobile, and a heat source, for example, a portion of the exhaust system of the automobile. Additionally, such shields may be designed to provide acoustical shielding.
As these shields are designed to be used in automobiles in high temperature environments, the shields may be required to meet certain standards set by the automotive industry for flame resistance. Additionally, the shield may come into contact with other materials in the automobile, such as engine oil, which may affect the flammability, and also the effectiveness, of the shield. Past methods for providing acoustic and thermal shielding have failed to meet new flammability requirements without sacrificing the acoustic shielding properties, the thermal shielding properties, and/or increasing the cost of manufacture.
In view of the disadvantages associated with currently available methods and devices for providing thermal and acoustical shielding, there is a need for a device and method that maintains thermal and acoustical performance, while also meeting flammability requirements (or standards) and cost expectations.